As the popularity of meme coins continues to grow, the spotlight has shifted to the mysterious investors who have made millions from early investments in Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Pepe Coin (PEPE). Amidst market fluctuations, these so-called “crypto whales” have managed to turn their initial bets into substantial profits.
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Both Shiba Inu and Pepe Coin are meme-based cryptocurrencies that have gained popularity in recent months. Shiba Inu (SHIB) was created as an alternative to Dogecoin, with the goal of surpassing it in popularity, while Pepe Coin (PEPE) is inspired by the well-known Pepe the Frog meme and aims to provide a decentralized, community-driven platform for digital art and content sharing.
The strategies of three crypto whales
Recent data from Lookonchain, a leading blockchain analytics platform, has shed light on their strategies, raising questions about whether these investors could be the masterminds behind the meme coin phenomenon.
The trader behind the wallet address 0x778c began buying SHIB in February of this year, having paid $13.5k to acquire 1.31 trillion SHIB. They exited the trade with a profit of around $5.8 million when they sold their SHIB for $5.81 million.
In April they shifted to PEPE, buying 396.7 billion of the altcoin with $9,815. After selling 116.8 billion PEPE for $392k, they retain 280 billion worth of the cryptocurrency valued at approximately $1.18 million in profit.
Wallet address 0x2af8 started buying SHIB on April 16, making roughly $3.84 million on the cryptocurrency. They also purchased 558.5 billion PEPE with $286k, which currently yields a profit of approximately $1.34 million.
Cryptopolitan.eth’s wallet address generated $2.45 million in profits from buying SHIB in early February. After purchasing approximately 340 billion PEPE with 49.5 ETH on April 19, they sold 56 billion PEPE for 64.4 ETH ($121k) and transferred 181 billion PEPE ($356k) to Binance and 7.5 billion PEPE ($23k) to 0x13df. They still retained 95.5 billion PEPE, with the cryptocurrency worth an estimated $695k in profit.
While the investment strategies of these whales have attracted attention, some experts in the cryptocurrency community have voiced concerns about their identities. One such expert, who chose to remain anonymous, commented:
“They are not smart money, they are the same group who created both $SHIB and $PEPE,” and another added, “Same people behind.”
SHIB and PEPE in recent weeks
SHIB, the second-largest meme coin, has seen an increase in trading volume recently, with influential investors purchasing over 10.25 trillion SHIB tokens in the past week alone. At the time of writing, SHIB’s 24-hour trading volume had dropped 25.74% to $127 million, with the token trading at $0.000009033, down 4.05% in 24 hours.
In contrast, PEPE reached new highs last week, currently ranking 52nd by market cap among all cryptocurrencies, with a market cap of $904 million. At press time, PEPE’s price was down 4.16%, trading at $0.000002451.